7 month old female veiled chameleon

[Paulycham]

Hi everyone,
Just joined a couple weeks ago and read alot of helpful things. I bought a female veiled chameleon back in march 2015 she was only about probably 2-3 weeks old. I bought her from LLLREPTILE, she's been doing great until a couple weeks ago when she stopped eating. I went to a reptile show on September 27th in manchester NH. and i brought home some Dubia rouches for her. She ate maybe 2-3 of them and seems like right after that is when the hunger strike started. She's always dark except when she's sleeping, she's in a 2x2x4 cage i made. She's got 60watt red light for basking and i just realized her other light is a UVA, I'm going to get her a UVB 10.0 light later today. I've been feeding her dusted crickets and mealworms since i got her. Any help or suggestions would be very helpful, thank you... I'll put up pics and hopefully they come up...

 

[MissMaisie]

Do you have a laying bin for her to put her eggs in? I've heard mealworms are not the best feeders, do you gut load your crickets? I'm quite a new Cham owner myself, but i think it could be quite bad if she's never had a uvb light, she may have mbd by now? I'd probably put some more branches in her cage as well, you could even fit a larger live tree in there like a ficus . Some really pretty dark colours she has though!

 

[oneillchameleons]

Please read and post the info required from this link so we can understand your situation and help as much as possible.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

Just from looking at the pictures I can tell you you need ALOT more horizontal climbing space and plants (both real and artificial, if using real make sure they are on the safe plants list)

Even though you didn't have a UVB bulb, she appears to be in good health from the pics, which leads me to assume you've been using calcium with d3 at most feedings. While this can stave off the symptoms of MBD for a while, it will eventually cause health problems. Supplementation should be as follows:

Calcium WITHOUT d3 at almost every feeding (except when dusting with something else)

Calcium WITH d3 every two weeks

Multivitamin every two weeks (not same time as the d3 dusting)

Also mealworms should really only be used as a treat once a week or so. While I don't believe they cause impaction (unless temps are far too low) they have almost no nutritional value. Use a variety of well gutloaded feeders and your chameleon will thrive.

 

[Paulycham]

I'm working on getting a laying bin for her, ive been trying to get a nice tree for her but i didn't buy one because of the chemicals. I've only been giving her mealworms a couple on the weekend's. She's had a uvb bulb in the past i just bought the wrong one last time i bought one. It's 11:52am and she's sleeping, I've seen her doing this a couple times in the past couple of weeks. I talked to someone at petsmart and she said it could be constipation, she told me to put her in a bowl of warm water for 10min. so i did it and i prob. stressed her out big time, probably why she's taking a nap.

 

[Paulycham]

I've also found out I've only had calcium with d3, been dusting crickets every other day. Went to the store to get calcium without d3 and they didn't have it, at petco or petsmart. So im going to order some online today.

 

[JamesBryan]

I think she could have eggs if you ask me, she has some tell tale dark spots.

 

[Paulycham]

I think she could have eggs if you ask me, she has some tell tale dark spots.

Ok... so i have to get a laying bin? How do i make one?

 

[jannb]

Ok... so i have to get a laying bin? How do i make one?

Yes, I recommend a laying bin in their enclosure at all times after they reach 4 to 5 months old. This video will tell you how to make one.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video-77225/

 

[Paulycham]

Yes, I recommend a laying bin in their enclosure at all times after they reach 4 to 5 months old. This video will tell you how to make one.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video-77225/

Thank you very much... going to do it this afternoon.

 

[brownie64]

I too feel she could greatly benefit from more plant cover, and an egg laying ben. I don't see any MBD, but she does look plump and extra colorful. Please ask for help on this site I have found that you can't put much trust in anything you hear from the big box pet stores. There is a wealth of knowledge on this site if your wiling to look for it.

 

[Paulycham]

Ok, thank you, i put a laying bin in yesterday and nothing yet, im gonna try to get a nice tree today. And im very glad to hear it doesn't look like MBD.

 

[Paulycham]

I put a laying bin in her cage on Saturday and still nothing, she still hasn't eatin anything, she is drinking a little water. I have her dripper on all day and i use a water bottle to mist her 3-5 times a day. How long will it take for her to jump in her laying bin? Thanks for your help....

 

[Paulycham]

I forgot the pics, she's in the dining room, no heavy traffic, i live 45min. from Boston mass. so it's gotten cold so i started our heater which is right in front of here cage. So now its been 65 to 75 degrees in the room. Basking spot is 85-90.

 

[Paulycham]

Can anybody tell me how i can buy some calcium without d3?

 

[oneillchameleons]

It's difficult for us to determine if she IS gravid just from the pics, but it is common practice to supply females older than five months with a laying bin at all times. In my opinion her feeding issues could have alot to do with her not feeling safe in her surroundings. She really does need a large amount of plant cover and climbing options. The pic below will give you an idea of how much is necessary, and even in this setup I would add more horizontal branches. Leave a space up top for basking and UVB and she should feel much more secure.

I buy my calcium without d3 off amazon. Since it doesn't degrade over time like vitamins you can buy it in large quantities. I've always used zoo-med repticalcium w/o d3.

 

[Paulycham]

It's difficult for us to determine if she IS gravid just from the pics, but it is common practice to supply females older than five months with a laying bin at all times. In my opinion her feeding issues could have alot to do with her not feeling safe in her surroundings. She really does need a large
amount of plant cover and climbing options. The pic below will give you an idea of how much is necessary, and even in this setup I would add more horizontal branches. Leave a space up top for basking and UVB and she should feel much more secure.

I buy my calcium without d3 off amazon. Since it doesn't degrade over time like vitamins you can buy it in large quantities. I've always used zoo-med repticalcium w/o d3.

Ok... thank you, I'm going to see what i can get for a tree this afternoon, and some calcium without d3.

 

[Paulycham]

I put a laying ben in her cage on Saturday and nothing yet, i put her in it yesterday and today she jumped in it but seems like she got no energy from not eating to did the hole so i dug one for her. I checked on her 10min. later and shes laying next to the hole with her tail in it. She is real dark and I'm afraid she doesn't have enough energy to lay the eggs. I took a couple of pics, hopefully you can tell me what's going on? Thank you...

 

[Paulycham]

I also bought a tree, so hopefully when she climbs back up she feel safer.

 

[jannb]

Your girl might not have eggs. She might just be sick. I recommend taking her to a good chameleon vet. I sent you a PM for a vet in your area.

 

[Paulycham]

Your girl might not have eggs. She might just be sick. I recommend taking her to a good chameleon vet. I sent you a PM for a vet in your area.

Ok... thank you very much